Mohammed Shami picks up five wickets, India lead by 146 runs

Mohammed Shamis sheer artistry with new and old ball fetched him another fivewicket haul as India seized control of the first Test against South Africa on the third day by extending their overall lead to 146 runs that could prove to be decisiveShami 165445 and his pace bowling colleagues Jasprit Bumrah 722162 Mohammed Siraj 1531451 and Shardul Thakur 111512 further enhanced their reputation as world beaters by dismissing the Proteas for mere 197 The quartet neutralised Lungi Ngidis lionhearted morning spell which saw him finish on 6 for 71 from 24 overs as India lost seven wickets from 55 runs to be allout on 327The wily old Shami manfully shouldered the duties of a pace spearhead for the better part of the 623 overs because of Japrit Bumrahs twisted ankle He also completed a satisfying personal milestone of 200 Test wickets With a first innings lead of 130 India at stumps reached 16 for 1 losing Mayank Agarwals wicket The Supersport Park strip after all the rain on the second day was at its spiciest best with all the underlying moisture aiding seam and swing bowling as 18 wickets fell on the dayWhile Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada did well in the morning Shami did way better in the afternoon in company of Bumrah Siraj and Shardul If the Proteas pacers relied on steep bounce off good length to trouble the Indian middle and lowerorder which caved in meekly Shami used the angles of the crease very effectively and the movement off the pitch did the rest The example was how he got Keegan Peterson and Aiden Markram with deliveries which were slightly different in executionIn case of Peterson Shami went slightly wide off the crease and unleashed an incutter that pitched on length and shaped in to take inside edge off his bat into the stumps In case of Markram he came closer to the stumps and bowled one that looked shaping in but once it pitched it just shaped away to hit the top of off stump The difference was angles used and slight change in wrist positioning What worked for India wonderfully well was the fact that the freshness and juice in the track was there till the middle part of the second session Once the top half was blown off India didnt have problems even as the pitch eased out Temba Bavuma 52 and Quinton de Kock 34 added 72 runs for the fifth wicket If Shami didnt get wickets then Siraj did and when Siraj went through a dry spell Shardul chipped in and by the time Bumrah got fit he helped the team in wrapping up the opposition tail In between Ravichandran Ashwin despite not getting a wicket kept things tight and overrate in checkIf Shami bowled some of the best deliveries in the South African innings Bumrah too bowled a beauty with tiniest of movement that forced rival skipper Dean Elgar forced edge one to Rishabh Pant who touched the milestone of 100 victims behind the wicket The morning belonged to Ngidi and Rabada as the Supersport Park track stayed true to its reputation of quickening up as time progressed The bounce was more and the length that Rabada and Nigidi bowled consistently was a touch fuller compared to first dayIt was Rabada who drew the first blood on the day with a well directed short ball aimed at Rahuls ribcage The batter simply couldnt manage the pullshot and the tickle landed in de Kocks gloves In case of Rahane Ngidi hadnt provided enough length for the drive and the ball reared up from length to take his edge and into keepers gloves Ashwins batting in SENA countries has gone downhill and the leading edge that lobbed up to Keshav Maharaj was a result of not being able to negotiate extra bounce generated by NgidiPant 8s dismissal was a carbon copy of Cheteshwar Pujaras where an angular delivery climbed up and it was an easy batpad catch for forward short leg Bumrah 14 did hit a few boundaries to take the score past 325 which was at least 75 runs short of what India had envisaged at the startThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever